BBC Announces Cast For Rose Matafeo Comedy ‘Starstruck’
The BBC has announced the cast for the upcoming comedy ‘Starstruck‘, which is co-written by, and starring, 2018 Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Rose Matafeo.
‘Starstruck’ follows Jessie (Matafeo), a millennial living in East London juggling two dead-end jobs and navigating the awkward morning-after-the-night-before when she discovers the complications of accidentally sleeping with famous film star Tom, played by Nikesh Patel (‘Four Weddings And A Funeral’, ‘Man Like Mobeen’).
Joining Matafeo and Patel in major roles are comedian, actor, and writer Emma Sidi (‘Pls Like’, ‘Stath Lets Flats’), and Sindhu Vee (‘Live at the Apollo’, ‘Mock The Week’). Special guest star Minnie Driver (‘Good Will Hunting’, ‘Will & Grace’, ‘Speechless’) will feature alongside the wider cast including Al Roberts (‘Stath Lets Flats’), Jon Pointing (‘Plebs’), Joe Barnes (‘The Now Show’), Nic Sampson (‘Baby Done’), Lola Rose Maxwell (‘Rude Tube’), Abraham Popoola (‘The Great’), and Ambreen Razia (‘This Way Up’).
The comedy is co-written by Rose Matafeo alongside fellow New Zealand comedian/writer Alice Snedden. The series will be broadcast on BBC Three and BBC One in the UK, with HBO Max as the broadcast partner for the series in the USA, while the show has also been picked up by ABC to air in Australia, and TVNZ in New Zealand.
“The BBC have been so supportive of this project from the get-go and to be able to get this show in front of American audiences at the same time via HBO Max is truly exciting,” commented Matafeo. “I’m thrilled we get to make it, otherwise it would’ve technically just been a creepy fan fiction script that I submitted to the national broadcaster. The team we’ve brought together for this series are absolute dreamboats and I’m super excited to be working with them.”
The news arrives shortly after Matafeo’s Comedy Award-winning stand-up special ‘Horndog’ launched on BBC One and BBC Three last month as part of the BBC’s Festival of Funny after previously enjoying successful performances around the world with sell-out shows at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival and a Barry Award-nominated run at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, before being crowned Best Show at the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2018.
‘Starstruck’ is directed by Karen Maine (SXSW Award-winning ‘Yes God Yes’), and was commissioned by Shane Allen, Controller Comedy Commissioning at the BBC and Fiona Campbell, Controller of BBC Three. Executive Producers are Rose Matafeo, Jon Thoday, Richard Allen-Turner and Rob Aslett. Toby Welch acts as series producer. Gregor Sharp is the Commissioning Editor for the BBC, and Jeniffer Kim is SVP of International Content for HBO Max.
No news yet on when ‘Starstruck‘ will premiere, but with casting now in place, it will presumably be later this year. The series will be broadcast on BBC Three and BBC One in the UK, HBO Max in the USA, ABC in Australia, and on TVNZ in New Zealand.
